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The New Rules of Selling

Following our review of the New Consumer, let’s look at how selling itself has changed in the recent years:

What Selling Used to Be

  • Knowledge was fragmented.
  • Salespeople worked a process and funnel.
  • Prospecting was huge in the past.
  • Questions ruled the sales process.
  • Salespeople were either prospectors or closers.
  • The sales pitch was very important in closing.

The New Sales Funnel

  • Prospecting has changed–in fact, it’s dead.
  • Approaching milestones is now based more on content and subscriptions.
  • Qualifying is much more focused and oriented on self-service.
  • Presenting is 100% customized and focused.
  • Closing will always be an art.

Stay-in-touch Automation has become a critical part of the New Sales Funnel. Here’s a brief list of extremely useful approaches that generate leads and keep interest going:

  • Email Newsletters – Collect email names and send newsletters monthly.
  • Webinars – Develop a free 45 minute Webinar to present quarterly.
  • Podcasting – Reach a massive audience for free on iTunes through at least 10-minute audio files.
  • Blogs – Keep a running journal of value-added content that informs and tells a story.
  • Website Content Updates – Develop a process of regular updates to your Websites.
  • Content Distribution – Send content out to Websites visited by your target market.
  • Social Media – Drive content and relationships through social media platforms.

Utilize these services to keep yourself at an advantage in a market that has changed. Despite some of the changes in how we approach sales and marketing, there are fundamentals that will never change.

Thomas Young

Thomas Young is the CEO and Founder of Intuitive Websites. He is a consultant, award winning Vistage speaker and author of “Winning the Website War” and “Sales and Marketing Alignment.” Tom has helped thousands of companies succeed online and has over 25 years digital marketing experience.